Orion and the Dark
Netflix | Release Date (Streaming): February 2, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
5
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleBob StraussFeb 1, 2024
The movie is silly and fun enough to enchant younger audiences, not to mention impart life-balance lessons that kids from 8 to 80 ought to know. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubLuke Y. ThompsonFeb 1, 2024
Though Orion And The Dark appears to go through the motions of a family flick, it throws some serious curves en route to a loving yet emotionally devastating resolution. Read full review
90
Screen RantFerdosa AbdiFeb 2, 2024
From its endearing animation style, which blends a 2D aesthetic with 3D technology, to its poignant and refreshing writing, Orion and the Dark is a true joy to watch. Read full review
90
We Got This CoveredCharlotte SimmonsFeb 2, 2024
With surprises, humor, and accessible profundity in spades, 'Orion and the Dark' has set the bar remarkably high for the rest of 2024's animated features. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzJan 29, 2024
Brought to life with a smooth and almost restrained kind of animation – all rounded edges and frames designed to breathe, rather than hyperactively cram in as much action as possible – and paced with a confident speed, Orion and the Dark will charm and entrance. Read full review
80
Rolling StoneDavid FearFeb 2, 2024
The fact that it adds an ode to intergenerational storytelling, a parody of time-travel narratives, some oddball left-turns, and a near-transcendent coda that feels very much in line with Kaufman’s body of work — all while still giving the kids what they want — makes this more than a cut above your average rainy-afternoon distraction. It’s really a low-key blast. Read full review
80
Paste MagazineTara Bennett Feb 1, 2024
Orion and the Dark is the most Kaufman-esque children’s movie you could possibly imagine, replete with oodles of existential anxiety, a metafiction narrative and a surprisingly emotional payoff. Read full review
80
Total FilmKate StablesJan 29, 2024
This is a clever, all-ages charmer. Read full review
80
EmpireJohn NugentJan 29, 2024
It might look at first glance like another goofy CG distraction-fest, but this is that rare family-friendly film bursting with ideas and challenging concepts. It’s Charlie Kaufman’s introspective existential dread — for kids! Read full review
80
ColliderRoss BonaimeJan 29, 2024
It's a delightfully smart and ambitious story that is equally powerful for children and adults alike. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckJan 29, 2024
Hilariously and movingly tapping into typical childhood anxieties, it’s infused with ample wit of both the visual and verbal variety for adults. Read full review
79
PolygonPetrana RadulovicFeb 9, 2024
What starts out as a sweet fairy tale turns into a metatextual romp that spirals in and out of itself, and gets deeply weird and weirdly deep. Sean Charmatz’s debut animated feature is an odd little gem that defies expectations. Read full review
75
CNNBrian LowryFeb 2, 2024
Even if the movie’s head is occasionally in the clouds, “Orion’s” heart is very much in the right place. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoFeb 2, 2024
With sharp character design, entertaining dialogue, and positive messaging, “Orion and the Dark” is an early-year Netflix original surprise. Read full review
75
IndieWireDavid EhrlichFeb 1, 2024
Charmatz’s nimble direction allows the action to flitter between the imagined past and the “actual” present without missing a beat, and that deftness proves key to the Pete Docter-like anthropomorphism that renders the Dark and his colleagues as working stiffs with a job to do. Read full review
75
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottJan 29, 2024
So, while “Orion and the Dark” is on one hand a fun and briskly paced fantasy-adventure, it also functions nicely as a smart, thoughtful and often trippy exploration of existential dread. Read full review
70
IGNA.A. Dowd Jan 29, 2024
If the animation is nothing special, the script is better than what drives most animated movies aimed at a young audience. And you can certainly feel Kaufman’s neurotic touch on the material. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyFeb 2, 2024
Kaufman has rummaged about in Pixar’s Inside Out grab-bag and mussed up the elemental simplicity of Yarlett’s idea. It’s nicely personal as his spin on a Pixar film, but the downside is that he can’t help imitating too many of them at once – which makes it equal parts sweet and hectic, and not a little overambitious. Read full review
60
The Daily BeastNick SchagerFeb 1, 2024
Boasts the idiosyncratic anxiety, depression, and angst of its author’s work and the bouncy tone and matching visual style of every other recent cinematic kid’s fable—two flavors that, it turns out, don’t really go well together. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawJan 29, 2024
It is a sweet-natured little tale, indebted to Monsters Inc and the whole Pixar canon but saved from being predictable with other borrowings (Back to the Future, Inception), as well as its various metafictional levels of storytelling. Read full review
50
VarietyPeter DebrugeFeb 2, 2024
Kaufman’s innovations all make Orion and the Dark less predictable, potentially engaging young viewers in the storytelling process. But they also make for a more stressful experience overall, as if Orion wasn’t high-strung enough already. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 30, 2024
This Netflix production, scripted by Kaufman and perhaps rendered into something more sensible by co-writer and children’s animation vet Lloyd Taylor (“Nimona”) is fanciful but formulaic, and unlike most of Kaufman’s boundary-breaking writing, it’s downright derivative. Read full review
38
The Associated PressMark KennedyFeb 1, 2024
Orion and the Dark is about fear and overcoming it but this movie directed by Sean Charmatz has too much junk clogging up the vision. Read full review
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